Hollywood icons Ben Affleck and Matt Damon sat down with Joe Rogan to discuss their new film ‘The Rip’ in a recent podcast episode. The conversation ventured deep into Hollywood economics, streaming platforms, and the role of artificial intelligence in filmmaking.
Affleck addressed the seismic shift toward streaming, noting that theatrical releases now face unprecedented challenges. “It’s a lot harder to get people to go into the movies,” he explained, pointing to the explosion of entertainment options from Netflix to YouTube to TikTok. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend dramatically, pushing even more viewers away from theaters and toward home viewing.
The actors discussed how streaming platforms have fundamentally altered filmmaking economics. Unlike theatrical releases, where box office numbers provide clear success metrics, streaming operates on a subscription model that makes measuring success more ambiguous.
“It’s unlike a box office where you can go, well, Oppenheimer is a billion dollars,” Affleck said. With streaming, “you can’t assign a strict numerical value to it.”
This shift has led platforms like Netflix to influence creative decisions in ways that concern filmmakers. Affleck revealed that streaming services now push for different story structures, requesting major action sequences within the first five minutes to hook viewers who might otherwise switch to something else.
They even suggest that filmmakers dumb down the plot for viewers. Damon explained that filmmakers tell them that “It wouldn’t be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching. ”
Both actors expressed concern about how algorithms and data analytics are shaping content. Rogan mentioned that Netflix now provides creators with data showing exactly when viewers tune out, allowing them to adjust their work accordingly.
While this might seem helpful, Affleck worried about the creative implications. When artificial intelligence or data-driven processes try to create content, they produce something fundamentally mediocre because they’re optimizing for the broadest possible appeal rather than artistic vision or originality.
While discussing AI’s role in filmmaking, Affleck was particularly skeptical about its creative potential. “If you try to get ChatGPT or Claude or Gemini to write you something, it’s really bad,” he said bluntly. The reason, he explained, is inherent in how these systems work: “By its nature, it goes to the mean, to the average.”
Affleck doesn’t believe AI will be able to write meaningful stories or create films from whole cloth. “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he stated. “I think it actually turns out the technology is not progressing in exactly the same way they sort of presented it.”
However, he does see AI as a useful tool in specific applications, comparing it to visual effects technology. It might help filmmakers avoid expensive location shoots or reduce rendering costs, but it won’t replace human creativity. The technology’s limitations are becoming apparent, Affleck noted, with incremental improvements requiring exponentially more resources and electricity.
What truly can’t be replicated, both actors agreed, is the human element of performance. Damon recounted asking Dwayne Johnson about a powerful scene in The Smashing Machine, where Johnson’s character breaks down in a hospital bed. Johnson revealed the moment was inspired by two traumatic experiences from his own life, his father’s struggle and his mother’s response to a diagnosis.
Damon emphasized, “That is an artist. That’s a piece of art that comes out of lived human experience.”
Beyond technology, Affleck and Damon discussed their efforts to reform Hollywood’s economic model. They’ve structured their production company to ensure that when films succeed, entire crews not just stars and executives benefit financially. For The Rip, they worked with Netflix to create a bonus structure where crew members receive additional compensation based on viewership milestones.
“We’re not asking you to take a cut, but if we can tell you if the movie is watched as many hours in the first 90 days as like this movie A that you all know what it is, then that’s 20 percent of your rate,” Affleck explained. The system includes multiple tiers, with increasingly ambitious viewership targets corresponding to larger bonuses.
This approach addresses a fundamental unfairness in the industry, where crew members who contribute significantly to a film’s success often see no financial benefit when it becomes a hit. “When there’s a big success, everybody who had a hand on it” should benefit, Damon argued.
Throughout the conversation, both actors emphasized that while technology and economics are changing, the core of filmmaking remains human connection. Great films still require talented crews, passionate artists, and stories that resonate with authentic emotion. AI may become a useful tool, but it won’t replace the collaborative artistry that makes cinema powerful.
